Date 2: Shed Your Coat
by tristelamar
Summary: The admission was laid bare flatly, with no surge of emotion behind it. And yet Woo Kyung's blood spiked too cold...


Date # 2: Shed Your Coat

People passed by in a hurry, a continuous flow of movement, life, and color, but the playground area was empty. Woo - Kyung made a fast calculation, and, smiling a little wider, stopped on her tracks, waiting the two steps it took for Do - Il to realize she'd done so.

He gave her a questioning look as he turned, and she cocked her head to signal. "Those swings over there look _very_ tempting under the moonlight."

Do - Il grinned one of his most easy, relaxed grins. "Let's go."

There was barely any distance separating them from their desired destination. Slowly sitting down, Woo - Kyung absently remembered being younger. She used to swing herself up until the whole swing set shook with the strain of it, then she'd swing a little closer to the ground before jumping. She'd been the undisputed neighborhood champion at that when she was nine, jumping from higher up than all the girls and even the boys around her age. She'd been quite proud of her imaginary title.

Shivering slightly because of how cold the metal of the chains was, she watched as Do - Il sat on the swing beside hers. "Thanks for the date," she said.

Do - Il turned his head, gave her a grin that was just as easy and relaxed as the one from before. "Thanks for coming out with me."

She couldn't keep from turning her stare on the constant current of people passing by before daring to return to looking at him, suddenly a drop shy. "And thanks for choosing an American movie. So I could practice my English, no?"

It was Do - Il's turn to look away. He did so only for an instant, then came back to her. "I've got to practice my English, too. I mean, I'm trying to get into college," he told her, shrugging before using his feet on the ground to swing just the slightest.

Woo - Kyung's heart stuttered in her chest at the mention of college, and she gave him a smile that was different from all the spontaneous, bubbly ones she'd given him tonight: substantially more risky feeling, much more private and softer.

Feeling herself blush and thankful that the light was such that it masked her involuntary reaction, she held on to the chains tighter before swallowing. "I thought it was a very good movie. I think I'll buy a translation of the book, and then, in about a year and a half, I'll read it in English."

"Sounds like a plan," he told her evenly, that grin transferred to his voice now. "I could help you buy the translation, if you want, and then you could pass it on to me when you're done. I thought the whole thing was pretty interesting. I'd like to see how it was written, if there were more details to it and everything."

"I'd really like that, Do - Il-ssi." She looked up at the sky for a beat, looked up at the clouds half obscuring the moon. "The beginning took me back to when I wanted a little sister more than I wanted my next breath."

Do - Il chuckled and kept on pushing with his feet, his swinging having gained a very slow rhythm. "Sister specifically?"

Woo - Kyung's first response came by way of a decided and exaggerate nod. "Yes. Boys other than Byung Hee had yet to become something other than the smelly enemy."

Do - Il was chuckling again. "Thankfully we've won you over." She shrugged and he chuckled once more, the sound fuller, richer. "Ah, it does sort of make sense, now that I think back on it. You would put all those bows on Sarangi."

She pushed, began swinging a little, too. "She was the most amazingly well put together dog you've ever seen, wasn't she?"

"Not a single doubt about it."

Sarangi was also the most wonderful dog ever to exist. She seemed to actually _like_ to have bows put on her, and she was loyal to the core. The one time Woo Kyung got really sick as a child, Sarangi stayed by her side at all times, always full of attention and at the ready to administer those caring licks to the side of Woo - Kyung's face.

Pushing again, Woo - Kyung turned twice, creating a sort of knotted rope with the thick chains. She laughed as the knotted rope came undone, as she was made to spin fast twice.

Putting her feet back on the ground, bringing herself to a full stop, she cocked her head at him. "And you? Didn't you ever wish for a little brother or sister, Do - Il-ssi?"

The set of questions had the effect of a needle piercing through a full balloon, succeeded in shattering the light atmosphere they'd created with their simple back and forth: his expression suddenly flashed dark and remote, shuttered. Only for an instant, though. Next, he was breathing in, managing a smile before saying, — "Never."

The admission was laid bare flatly, with no surge of emotion behind it. And yet Woo - Kyung's blood spiked too cold, her hands on the chains going impossibly tight, her throat stinging. "Do - Il, I'm—"

"It _is_ you two," said a very familiar voice.

She blinked in the wake of the intrusion before turning her head, not very surprised when she was met with the sight of Ji - Hyuk, Kyung - Jong, and Ha - Jin standing close by on the sidewalk. Do - Il had already stood up and was approaching their group of friends, so she worked on a believable half smile as she began moving, her chest still a sting too cold, her throat still a long way from easy.

-oOo-

"He just doesn't give me a good feeling," Ha - Jin pointed out fiercely.

"They almost never do at first," said Kyung - Jong, calm as tea.

"That's because my sister keeps dating these greasy assholes with very few and appreciated exceptions."

"You are not wrong," came Kyung - Jong's response.

"He's really not," – that was Ji - Hyuk.

By her side, Do - Il frowned as he continued walking. "Give him at least a week. If he shows his true colors and they happen to be ugly ones, we'll help you bring him the pain."

"Definitely," said Kyung - Jon, and, for someone so sweet natured and so far from physically menacing, he could always manage the trick of sounding a hundred different shades of cold and possibly dangerous.

"Agreed," Ji - Hyuk put in with finality.

"What's his name?" she asked.

Ha Jin looked at her over his shoulder, his expression harsh and clouded, a human map of familial concern. "Chang Hee - Park."

"I'll casually drop his name at the salon. If he's some sort of good for nothing playboy, it'll come up and I'll get back to you," said Woo - Kyung. Being a beautician had some few benefits, the information network one of the most notable ones.

Ha - Jin gave her a smile. "You're the best, Woo Kyung-ssi."

"I am that."

Beside Do - Il, Ji - Hyuk laughed. "And so humble!"

She shrugged, nonetheless feeling a little stung by the comment. "Better no humbleness at all than pretend humbleness, no?"

"That's my way of thinking, too," Ji - Hyuk answered, tone unwavering and sincere.

By now, they were fast approaching her home. Ji - Hyuk, Kyung - Jong, and Ha - Jin had been with them since the playground, and it'd been nice, catching up after a week without barely any real contact. But she didn't need to check her cellphone to know she was very close to meeting her mother's curfew, and she wanted …—she needed to…

Woo - Kyung cleared her throat, straightening slightly. "Ah, don't you three have something you were going to do?"

Ji - Hyuk chuckled and said, — "No, not specifically, no."

Woo - Kyung inhaled deep as she stopped walking, hands tense inside her pockets. "Well, I'm sure you won't have that much trouble finding something else to do besides barging in here. So, yes, please, go find that. Sometime like _now_."

Ji - Hyuk, Kyung - Jong, and Ha - Jin exploded in laughter. Kyung Jong and Ji Hyuk passed Ha Jin three ten won notes each, which Ha - Jin proceeded to speedily pocket, still laughing, his shoulders shaking with it. Do - Il sent a conspiratorial sort of smile her way before laughing at his three idiot friends.

Her face felt hot, but she smiled at Do Il before sweeping her expression of any emotion as she waited for the three idiots to stop laughing and laughing and _laughing_. Maybe she gave in and laughed a little, too. Maybe.

Before long, Ha - Jin was turning around. "I wish you a good night. And, Do - Il, since I'm suddenly feeling wealthier and therefore generous, I'll be very good and give you a piece of advice. Women _love_ it when you—"

Ji - Hyuk covered Ha - Jin's mouth with the one hand, his other arm he threw over the young man's shoulder. "Good night,'" he said, before visibly squeezing Ha - Jin where he held on to him.

Ha - Jin glared and shook Ji - Hyuk's arm away, but when he talked he said, — "Good night."

"Good night, you two," said Kyung - Jong, nodding.

Do - Il returned the nod. "Bye."

She was grinning again. "Good bye."

They were silent as their three friends turned, starting down the street that would take them to Ji - Hyuk's rooftop apartment. Apparently unable to stop himself, though, Ji - Hyuk turned back around before they'd reached the corner.

"Have fun!" he shouted. The smile he gave them before turning his back on them could only be described as gleefully teasing.

Woo - Kyung waited until they really were done turning the corner, then she let out a long-suffering sigh. "They are something else," she told Do - Il, her tone, like her, caught halfway between amused and annoyed.

He bowed his head and chuckled. "We are," he said, low, almost to himself.

They went back to walking. Watching him every now and again as they advanced, she returned to her previous state: chest tight, throat stinging.

Somehow she managed to wait what felt like an appropriate amount before saying what had been on her mind ever since their conversation on the swings. "I'd… hoped that time had been the first."

His jaw tensed while he kept his silence.

All the confirmation she needed.

Everything inside her got impossibly tense. She could have burst with the sudden surge of hot rage pumping in her veins.

Before she'd fully recovered, she was saying, —"Aish, I really hate your father!" She talked because it was instinctive to her, but, hearing herself, what she'd just said, she blinked, scared she'd gone too far and thankful for the fact that they were alone. Whatever the man was, he was Do - Il's father as well.

Her pulse racing, she risked a look at Do - Il's profile, relieved when she saw half a smile upturning his mouth.

Maybe that reaction should have made her wary. It didn't.

They'd stopped, having reached the salon and her second level apartment. There was that bite of coldness as she waited for him to turn his body so he was facing her.

She stepped into him the moment he was done moving, afraid she might lose her nerve if she gave him a chance to look up and establish eye-contact. She stood very still otherwise, but she got close to his ear. "I'm really glad we're doing this, Do - I l- ssi," she said, hopelessly sincere.

He turned his face toward her before she'd gathered any distance, gave her a look that got under her skin and felt as though it might manage to melt every single one of her bones. "I am, too." They were so close that his breath danced along her mouth when he talked, miraculously reverberated all along her spine somehow.

She stepped back, feeling nervous, feeling too much, — instantly regretted the loss of warmth and proximity that came with the action.

Do - Il followed her movement with his eyes. He swallowed as she stopped, grinning a little.

She returned the gesture before turning to go inside, his voice stopping her four steps after.

"Woo - Kyung - ssi, the book. That was a promise, no?"

She nodded, suddenly very present, incredibly aware of every point and long plane of her body. "Yes."

Do - Il's hands went inside his pockets as he did the sort of smiling she'd never been on the receiving end of before: not that wide but entirely full of promise, entirely manly and warm in ways that made her feel strange. "Good. I plan on taking you up on it."


End file.
